Qualcomm CEO Steve Molinkoff will retire, and Cristiano Amon will take over

The company announced on Tuesday that Qualcomm CEO Steve Mullenkopf will retire and be succeeded by Cristiano Amon, president of the chip maker, on June 30.

The 52-year-old Mollenkopf’s move comes at a high point for San Diego, which is the largest maker of cell-connected chips and benefits from more phones being connected to 5G networks.

The company recently emerged from a host of challenges, including a business model audit from the Federal Trade Commission, a legal battle with Apple, and a hostile takeover bid from rival Broadcom.

Since 2014, when Mollenkopf became CEO, Qualcomm’s share has gained 96.7%, an increase of 71.7% last year.

“Steve has weathered unprecedented circumstances during his tenure, facing more in his seven years as CEO than most leaders in their entire career,” said Mark McLaughlin, president of Qualcomm, in a statement.

Qualcomm fought legal cases with Apple and the FTC during the Mollenkopf period. In 2019, it settled a lawsuit with Apple questioning its business model for selling chips and licenses for wireless technology. an Apple Qualcomm paid $ 4.5 billion And Apple’s iPhone 12 uses Qualcomm’s 5G chips.

In August, Qualcomm It scored a decisive victory In its battle with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) when a federal appeals court ruled that Qualcomm’s business practices were not anti-competitive, largely ending a saga that saw Qualcomm’s core business model under scrutiny by regulators around the world.

In 2018, Qualcomm received an unwanted merger offer from Broadcom, a competing semiconductor manufacturer that was headquartered in Singapore at the time. The deal, which was valued at $ 117 billion, was foiled by President Donald Trump, who National Security cited Fears in preventing him.

Amon, 50, grew up with the company’s mobile chipset division and has been the company’s second president since 2018. Qualcomm He said in November It plans to ship 500 million SIM cards with 5G in 2021.